


Show Me Your Magic (Make Me Believe)

by Blake_Belladonna_Defence_Force



Series: Bumbleby Oneshots [58]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Magic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blake_Belladonna_Defence_Force/pseuds/Blake_Belladonna_Defence_Force
Summary: Ever since she freed herself from her past, she had found comfort in the forest. There was a strange sense of shelter to be found within nature, within the morning call of the birds and the scampering of rabbits through the undergrowth. The wind was a steady companion and even the ever changing weather was more predictable than he had ever been. It was safe. It was calm. It was quiet…But Blake Belladonna will soon find that the winds are about to forever change when a woman and a young girl come crashing into her life.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Bumbleby Oneshots [58]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926181
Comments: 25
Kudos: 227





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - “She’s just a child!”
> 
> Is this a pilot chapter? A new au? Who knows? Certainly not the author!

Blake inhales deeply as she steps out of her cabin, arching her back as the early morning rays of sunlight hit her skin, warming her to her core. With a soft sigh and a gentle flicker of her black cat ears, she shuts her door behind her and steps onto the path, smiling softly to herself as the sounds of the forest surround her.

Ever since she freed herself from her past, she had found comfort in the forest. There was a strange sense of shelter to be found within nature, within the morning call of the birds and the scampering of rabbits through the undergrowth. The wind was a steady companion and even the ever changing weather was more predictable than  _ he  _ had ever been. It was safe. It was calm. It was  _ quiet… _

And it was perfect for Blake Belladonna to practice her magic without fear of being burned at the stake or used as a weapon against innocent people.

* * *

Of course… Blake should have known that her peace and tranquillity would only last so long before the universe decided to test her once more.

It was as she was returning to her home, hand on her door, that she heard the sound of someone crashing to a halt behind her, their breaths coming in desperate, terrified pants. Turning around, Blake inhales sharply at the sight of a young woman, no older than her own twenty years of age, collapsing under the weight of a child no older than ten. The woman appears bruised and battered, holding the child to her protectively as she looks up at Blake with terror in her lilac eyes.

“Where’d they go?!”

“I don’t know. Just find them! The cursed spawn cannot be allowed to live!”

The woman turns to Blake, her expression pinched and desperate as the child clings to her fearfully, burrowing her face into the woman’s neck with a heartbreaking whimper. The woman looks into Blake’s eyes and Blake can all but feel her terror, her desperation, and she swallows hard as the woman’s expression morphs into a desperate plea. “Please… help us. She- my sister- they’re going to kill her! Please—“

“She’s just a child.” Blake murmurs, her blood boiling beneath her skin as the sound of soldiers grows closer. Her eyes narrow and she turns to the woman, her chest clenching as the child lets out a terrified sob, and she sighs, coming to a decision. “Come with me.” Blake says bluntly, swinging her door open and watching as disbelief colours the woman’s expression.

She’s quick to recover, looking between Blake and the forest before seeming to decide that Blake was the better option of the two and struggles to her feet to follow her as Blake enters her home and pulls back a rug to reveal a trap door. Grunting, she pulls it open and silently ushers the woman and child into it, nodding silently when the woman whispers a gentle thanks and clings to the child tightly as Blake hides them away.

“They must be Atlesian soldiers…” Blake mutters irritably, her ears twitching as the noise of the soldiers grows louder. Sneering in distaste, she snaps the fingers of her right hand, watching as magic sparks to life in her palm and begins to grow until it forms a small ball of purple plasma. It crackles angrily in her hold, as if responding to her own emotions, and she turns to the forest. “Still hunting us down, right down to the children, I see.”

With a snap, her magic disappears from view and she strides out of her home with her head held high as a small troupe of soldiers dressed in whites and blues gather in front of her porch. She bites back a growl at the sight of their blades drawn, her gut twisting at the thought of what they might have done had the girl and her caretaker still been outside when they showed up. Instead, she smiles pleasantly and steps forward, adjusting the cape clasped around her shoulders and fiddling with the sleeves of her button down shirt as the leader of the group, an older man with brown hair and pale blue eyes, bows respectfully to her.

“Ma’am… we don’t wish to alarm you but we are in the midst of tracking down a pair of Wildlings. Have you, by any chance, seen a woman with blonde hair carting along a small child?”

Blake bites back a snort. Clever avoidance in regards to _which one_ was the Wildling, she muses. Carefully, she widens her eyes and pulls her ears back fearfully as she clings to her cape as though seeking comfort and when she talks, she forces a waver into her voice, trembling in front of the soldiers as she looks around with a terrified glance. “What? Wildlings? _Here?_ I- I had no idea— that’s- that’s simply _awful!_ I haven’t seen a thing. Please tell me that you’ll catch those- those _evil_ _things?”_ Blake says quietly, demurely, _fearfully,_ as the man tilts his hat towards her, watching as he puffs his chest out with pride.

“Fear not, ma’am. We’ll soon have the heathens under lock and key. They’ll not lay a feral hand on you as long as I’m around.”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear it.” Blake titters, covering her mouth and ducking her head as though suddenly shy. With a meek and mild smile, she looks back towards her home and offers the man and his troupe an apologetic shrug. “I… wish I could invite you to stay but I’m afraid I’m all out of tea. Perhaps another time?”

“Perhaps indeed, ma’am. But for now… we have a job to do. Until we meet again.”

Blake smiles, keeping her facade up until the last soldier has disappeared into the undergrowth, their gazes intense as they scan the area. With a snort, she wanders back into her home and slams the door shut, muttering curses under her breath as she begins to pull back her rug. 

“Alright. You can come out now.” Blake comments, arching a brow as the woman slowly climbs out, casting a suspicious glance around her as she places her sister on the ground. “They’re gone. Now… tell me… how exactly do you plan to take care of a Wildling sister when you have no magic yourself?”

“How did-“ the woman stutters, pulling her sister protectively behind her as she brings her hands up, her eyes narrowing as she observes Blake, her body growing tense. “How did you know?”

“A young woman comes crashing into my little clearing carrying a child. A child that somebody wants to  _ kill _ .” Blake says calmly, her arms crossing as she meets the woman’s gaze. She can’t blame her for being suspicious. It’s clear from her torn clothes and battered body that she’s been through hell to get as far as she’s gotten. “I hide them only to hear from a group of Atlesian soldiers that they’re hunting down Wildlings. It’s easy to assume that the woman isn’t, in fact, a Wildling because she’s fiercely protective of the child and would use every tool at her disposal to keep her safe and yet… there’s no sign of magic being used on the soldiers. Additionally, her body has taken more damage than a Wildling usually takes since Wildlings tend to be protected by their magic. So that leaves the assumption that the soldiers are trying to hunt down a Wildling child and her Mundane caretaker. Am I wrong?”

“... what are you going to do?” The woman says weakly, her body trembling under the weight of her exhaustion. She looks utterly spent, as though the only thing holding her up is her desire to protect her sister. “We’ll leave. We won’t be of any trouble to you. I just want to keep my sister safe.”

“I don’t want them to kill me!” The girl whimpers, and when Blake’s looks down at her, her silver eyes are wide with terror as she clings to her sister’s pants fearfully. Her breaths become short and sharp as she steps away, her body trembling and her voice pitching with anxiety. “They’ll- they killed Mum and Dad! I don’t- I don’t want them to kill us too!”

Blake’s eyes widen as the girl’s eyes begin to glow and a silver spark forms in her hands. Quicker than she thought she was capable of, Blake moves, landing on her knees in front of the girl and ignoring the protective snarl of the woman beside her as she holds out her hand, snapping her fingers and letting her own magic flair to life. She hears a sharp gasp from the older sibling and she meets the young girl’s terrified gaze as she looks up from her hands. “You’re scared of it. That’s okay. You’re allowed to be scared of it.” Blake murmurs softly, repeating the same words her own father had said to her once upon a time. “Magic is misunderstood and a lot of people deem us as bad or unworthy of the life we’ve been given. But that’s not true. You can control it—“

“I  _ can’t’  _ I don’t know how! I don’t wanna be evil! I don’t wanna hurt people!”

“Take a deep breath for me.” Blake says quietly, calmly. She barely acknowledges the sight of the sister sinking down to her knees, her gaze watching Blake like a hawk as her purple plasma crackles in her hand. “Good girl. Magic is influenced by how we feel. Like most things… we can choose how we react to it, even if we can’t choose how we feel. And yes. It’s a part of  _ us.  _ But it is only a singular part. It’s a gift and like many gifts, we can choose what to do with it. You are not evil or bad, sweetie. You just have a gift and it’s one that you can learn to control, to use it however you want. Just like I did.”

Blake holds her hand up and focuses on her magic, shaping it and morphing it in her hand. Slowly, the plasma ball shifts, slowly forming into a single rose in front of the young girl’s face. The distraction, one that had worked on her when she’d panic, works and the girl’s eyes widen with surprise, her magic sparking out as her focus shifts from her panic to Blake’s magic. With a smile, Blake pulls her magic to her mouth and blows on it, letting it turn into a sprinkling of harmless sparks and confetti that rain down upon the girl and pull a small, stunned laugh from her as she watches it.

“Magic isn’t evil. It can be good and wonderful and beautiful.” Blake says gently, smiling when the young girl meets her gaze with a nervous grin, her eyes still unsure and scared. “It’s only evil if we let it become evil. But I don’t think you have an evil bone in your body. You just gotta learn to control it.”

“Who… are you?”

Blake turns to the woman, arching a brow at the awed expression on her face, blending with caution and suspicion, as their gazes meet. Blake smiles, watching as the older sibling curls a protective arm around her sister and tugs her into her side. The sight of such genuine care, something she had long forgotten could exist, strikes something in her chest, filling it with a warmth she hadn’t known for a very long time. So she sighs, glancing away as she takes a moment to think, before offering an awkward smile and holding out her hand to the siblings.

_ “My name’s Blake Belladonna… and I want to help you.” _


	2. Chapter 2

“So… Yang, was it?”

Blake clears her throat roughly when the woman, now appearing much more relaxed thanks to a shower and a clean change of clothes, nods awkwardly at her, her fingers curled tightly around a mug of tea as her eyes dart nervously to where her younger sister lays fast asleep on Blake’s couch. 

“Yep. Yang Xiao Long.” Yang says through a yawn, her jaw cracking as she rubs her eyes wearily. She looks tired,  _ too  _ tired. As though she had been on edge for days with no reprieve. “Um… thanks for… saving us. I… a lot of people would have let us die. A lot of people  _ have  _ left us to die.” She adds, her brow furrowing as she looks away, the muscles in her jaw growing tense. “So… thanks.”

Blake hums softly around her own mug, her amber eyes observing the old sibling thoughtfully. “I’m not surprised. Atlas has convinced the rest of the world that magic is nothing but pure evil, encouraging people to hunt us down for a reward. It’s… made it incredibly difficult to form safe communities for us anymore.”

“There used to be communities?”

_ “Oh…  _ yes. Yes, back when I was a little girl.” Blake says with a pained, nostalgic smile. Her gaze grows distant, focusing on something far behind her in her past as she remembers a time of peace. “My own father was the leader of one such community. He was the one that I had inherited my powers from, while my mother was Mundane, just like you.” Blake says quietly, looking down into her tea with a heavy sigh. “He taught me how to use my gift and he welcomed all Wildlings that needed a safe place to call home, Faunus or Human. He even welcomed their Mundane loved ones. It was a good place… a  _ loving  _ and  _ supportive  _ place.”

“What happened to it?” Yang asks softly, drawing Blake’s attention back to her. She tilts her head at Blake, her lilac eyes shining with a morbid curiosity and worry.

Blake smiles mirthlessly, the gesture sharp and angular as she sighs. “I was twelve years old when we were brutally attacked. I got separated from my parents and found myself a part of a small group, along with an older boy that took upon himself to take me under his wing.” Blake says, sneering lightly at her own words. There was so much more to the tale of that boy… but it wasn’t one that she wished to tel a stranger so she lets it fall flat. “Many of us were injured and many of us were killed. A lot of us lost our way to darkness, our anger and fear and hurt guiding our actions…. and ours wasn’t the only community destroyed. So many others were shattered, leaving those of us who survived to hide in the shadows.” 

“I- I’m sorry.” Yang murmurs softly, her expression shifting to one of compassion and understanding as she smiles sadly at Blake. “Did... you ever find out what happened to your parents?”

“I’ve heard rumours of their survival but never dared to find out.” Blake said, shrugging and feigning nonchalance, pretending that the question doesn’t make her chest burn with a feeling of homesickness that she’d been suffering since the first house was set alight with flames all those years ago. “But that doesn’t matter now. What does matter is that a little Wildling girl is in the exact some position I was once upon time; lost and scared because she’s being hunted down because of  _ what  _ she is. The only difference is… she still has family with  _ you.”  _ Blake’s voice softens, her tone gentling as Yang glances towards the sleeping girl anxiously. “I want to offer myself up as a…  _ mentor,  _ so to speak. Teach her to control her magic, help understand that it doesn’t make her evil. Help guide you guide her in the right direction.”

“I don’t know you. How do I know that I can trust you?”

“You don’t.” Blake says with a small shrug, leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs as she watches Yang frown in thought. “Trust is a risk and it usually comes at some kind of a cost. I can’t even tell you that a Wildling wouldn’t hurt another because I know that’s not true.” Blake pauses, clearing her throat when her voice hitches lightly as a painful memory comes to mind unbidden, of a sharp voice and a cruel hand, of pain and fire and an ever growing darkness. “But I can tell you that when a Belladonna makes an oath, we keep it. I swear that my only intent is to be the person that I wished I had as a child. All I want to do is help you.”

“... I hate to admit it… but we do need help. I- I can’t protect her. I can’t-“ Yang’s breathing hitches violently and she rubs at her eyes as they well up with tears, her teeth gritted in frustration as she lets out a shaky breath. With an agitated sigh, she turns to Blake and nods, though her gaze sharpens as she leans forward and, for a brief moment, Blake could swear that her lilac eyes burn like crimson fire. “I’ll accept but only because my sister needs your help. If you hurt her? If you do  _ anything  _ that could get her killed? I promise you… the soldiers will be the least of your worries.”

Blake nods, bowing her head respectfully at Yang before she offers her a small smile. “Understood. I’ll do all that I can to help. Now… you two can take my bed and I’ll take the couch. We’ll talk shop in the morning. For now… rest. You both look like you need it.”

Yang nods with a soft grunt as she stands and walks over to pick up her sister carefully, following Blake to her room and pausing at the door as Blake ushers them in. She turns to Blake, her expression surprisingly gentle considering how it had all but burned into Blake soul just moments earlier with a protective fire. “Thank you.” She says quietly, her throat bobbing in a hard swallow as she looks away. “G’night.”

“Rest well.”

_ ‘God knows that you need it.’ _ Blake thinks to herself, silently wondering just how long the sisters had been on their own as she returns to her kitchen and begins to clean up for the night before sinking into her couch with a tired sigh.

* * *

“Morning.”

The following morning comes and Blake jumps as a voice speaks up from behind her. When she spins around, hand raised and magic sparking to life, she pauses at the sight of Yang leaning against the door with her hands up in surrender and an apologetic smile on her face as Blake snaps her fingers with a shaky breath. “Okay… looks like you need some lessons of your own. Lesson number one; don’t sneak up on a Wildling because that’s one way to get your pretty hair scorched.”

“Duly noted.” Yang comments as she moves to lean against the porch railing with Blake, keeping her distance and letting out a soft sigh. “Uh… hey. I… want to… apologise for the whole… threatening thing last night. You’re just trying to help and—“

“Don’t apologise. I get it. You’re just looking out for your sister.” Blake says calmly, turning to watch as Yang’s gaze wanders around the small clearing curiously. “It’s good for her to have somebody she can trust like that. It’s going to make her training a little smoother if she has somebody that makes her feel safe like you do.” 

“Oh… thanks.”

Blake clears her throat awkwardly, glancing away from Yang and blowing out her cheeks in a soft huff. “So… when did her powers start manifesting?”

“Oh… uh… shortly after her tenth birthday last year. End of October, beginning of November.”

“Figures.” Blake snorts, her lips curling into a small smile when Yang chuckles in response. Humming softly, Blake tilts her head, her nose scrunching up lightly as she thinks to herself. “Ten… yeah, that’s pretty standard. Means she’s had her powers for… about two months now so she’s still brand new to it all. See… we Wildlings don’t manifest our gifts until our tenth birthday on average. Of course, you get early birds and late bloomers but never any younger than eight.”

“How come?” Yang asks, turning to Blake with a gaze burning with curiosity. It makes Blake smile inwardly, silently grateful that her newest charge had a caregiver that was more curious than afraid of Wildling magic. “Is it a magic thing? Is eight a magic number or something?”

“No, it’s evolution. Science and magic are lot more tied in than you’d think.” Blake answers with a soft laugh, smirking slightly when Yang deflated at the rather…  _ mundane  _ answer. “Think about it; when your sister loses her temper or gets scared, does she ever accidentally spark her magic and break something? Because her emotions spiral out of control and her magic responds in kind?”

“That’s kind of the issue, so yeah.”

“Right… and she’s  _ ten.  _ Imagine putting all of that power in a toddler that has tantrums. They feel things  _ so  _ intensely because they haven’t learned to regulate their emotions so… if a toddler has magic that responds to their unregulated emotions…” Blake winces, her ears tilting back as she makes an uncomfortable noise in her throat. “It’s not pretty so… Wildlings evolved to have their powers manifest at an age where they can adapt to their magic while having an easier grasp of emotions than a toddler. And  _ then  _ you’ve got a certain amount of time until the hormones kick in and puberty makes their magic a little unpredictable so you really need to start teaching them control straight out of the gate so that you’re not dealing with a moody, angsty and extremely super-powered teenager that’ll set their goddamn _ door  _ on fire instead of slamming it.”

“Oh.” Yang says slowly, her face contorting into a grimace as she turns around to look back at the house worriedly. “Great. This- this is fine. It’ll be fine. Right?”

“That’s why I’m going to help.” Blake comments quietly, smiling awkwardly when Yang turns to her with a nervous grin. “Well… as best as I can. Never had an apprentice before so this will be… new things for us all.”

“You got her to calm down yesterday.” Yang says pointedly, smiling ruefully at Blake as she shakes her head with a heavy sigh. “Faster than I ever have. It was… kind of impressive, actually.”

“Eh, it was the distraction.” Blake says with an awkward laugh, looking away as her skin begins to burn with flustered heat. “My dad used that tactic on me when I became overwhelmed with fear of my own magic… except he’d make little panthers instead of a rose. I can guarantee that’s one trick that won’t last forever.”

“Well… it’s better than I’ve managed so far.”

Blake frowns, opening her mouth to offer some sort of hesitant reassurance as Yang’s expression falters, her lilac eyes darkening with doubt. But before she can speak, the door slams open and a blur of red rushes out and latches itself to Yang’s back with what Blake can only describe as an excited screech.

“Ruby!” Yang yelps, growling playfully as she reaches back to hoist her younger sister up a little higher on her back. With a grin, Yang spins around, pulling a delighted laugh from the younger girl as Blake watches with a mixture of amusement and confusion. “You’re gonna scare your new teacher if you’re not careful.”

“Ooh.” Ruby says quickly, jumping to the ground and staring up at Blake with a small, shy smile as she fiddles with the hem of her tunic nervously. “You’re really gonna teach me? Like… actual magic? Not birthday magician magic?”

“As real as the nose on your face.” Blake comments dryly, smirking softly when the young girl scrunches up her nose and crosses her eyes in an attempt to look at her own nose. “How about we go inside and have some breakfast so we can get started?”

Blake blinks as Ruby grins and runs back inside, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. Slowly, she looks back up at the older sister with raised eyebrows, her cheeks becoming strangely hot when Yang chuckles softly and reaches out a hand to pat her sympathetically on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, teach. You’ll get used to her.”

Blake nods, watching as Yang wanders inside to join her sister. Blake lets out a soft sigh, crinkling her nose and rubbing at her cheeks in attempt to stop the blush that she’s sure is making her cheeks glow before joining her new companions.

All with the ever increasing thought that things just got a little more interesting...

“Yaaaaaaang! Nooooooo! Don’t mess with my hair! Stop ruffling it!”

“You had a shower last night!  _ How  _ do you have grass and leaves in it already?! You haven’t even been off the front porch, you tiny gremlin”

“Get lost!”

“Never!”

… and not to mention  _ loud. _


End file.
